Savannah preservationists fighting bill

ATLANTA - Preservationists are fighting a bill they say could leave local officials powerless to stop the commercial development of historic neighborhoods.

Tuesday, Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, understood the outrage.

"I can imagine the planning commission would be upset about this," he said while taking no formal position himself. "I'm still studying this."

House Bill 474 by House Judiciary Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, would merely add two-dozen words to the state's preservation law. The addition gives property owners of vacant land a green light for "subdividing or developing such property in according with local zoning regulations" without having to ask preservation boards for permission first.

Thomas Thomson, executive director of the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission, wrote Stephens and other area legislators to ask them to stop the bill.

"The Savannah Historic District, showcasing Oglethorpe's Plan, is a model example of the interrelationship between historic character and development patterns," Thomson wrote. "But it certainly isn't the only example."

He also mentions the Isle of Hope District which has large, waterfront lots that would take on a different character if the lots were divided.

"The bill appears to be designed to prevent historic-preservation commissions, which are granted their authority from the local government, from regulating subdivisions," Thomson wrote.

The bill is pending in Willard's House Judiciary Committee. It's too late for the committee to act on it before Thursday's internal deadline, leaving the bill dead for the remainder of this year's legislative session.